This is the first time in France that wind energy off the coast, near Saint-Nazaire, can produce electricity. The equivalent of the annual consumption of 700,000 people is ensured by 80 yellow and white wind turbines installed about fifteen kilometers from the shore.
“There are 12 cables that link the wind turbines together in clusters of 6 or 7, which then arrive at the substation. There, the current is transformed so that it can be transported, sent to the land”, explains Olivier de La Laurencie, director of the Saint-Nazaire wind farm.
As you sail towards the park, the 12 clusters of wind turbines and the huge 75-meter long blades stretch to the horizon, with the electrical substation in the center, which looks like a giant gray cube on stilts.
This substation “is a large transformer that will transform the electricity that arrives in 33,000 volts, in 225,000 volts”, continues Mr. de La Laurencie, indicating that the electricity is then “sent to the national network where it will be injected at that voltage”.
The wind turbines, which should produce the equivalent of 20% of the annual electricity consumption of the Loire-Atlantique department, are “spaced 1,000 meters apart, in both directions,” says Olivier de La Laurencie.
– “2nd largest offshore wind potential in Europe” –
No one is permanently stationed in this vast park, which covers 78 km2, but everything is monitored remotely from a maintenance base in the port of La Turballe.
At the heart of this base, a maritime coordination room with multiple screens shows the position of ships moving at the foot of the wind turbines.
“It’s like the control tower of the site,” says Fabrice Le Tual, operations and maintenance manager, adding that a hundred people will work on the maintenance of the park during the 25 years it will be in operation.
The park, operated by EDF, will be fully operational by the end of the year.
It has a capacity of 480 megawatts (MW) and was inaugurated by Emmanuel Macron on September 22.
“In France, we are fortunate to have the second largest potential for offshore wind energy in Europe, after the United Kingdom,” says Cédric Le Bousse, Director of Marine Renewable Energies France at EDF Renewables.
After those of Saint-Nazaire, the wind turbines of the offshore park of Fécamp will be installed “next summer” and those of the park of Courseulles-sur-Mer (Calvados) “from the year 2024”, says Mr. Le Bousse.
Offshore construction of the Saint-Nazaire wind farm took place in 2021 and 2022, with the foundations and electrical cables first installed underwater, and then the wind turbines were brought on site from the spring of 2022 until the last one was installed on September 5.
